After fielding a storm of complaints at a community meeting about how State Farm General is handling Los Angeles wildfire claims, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said Saturday that regulators might launch a formal inquiry into the company’s practices.
Lara made his comments during a Zoom session attended by more 200 survivors of the Palisades and Eaton fires, who complained about delays in handling their claims, difficulty in getting testing for toxic substances and low cash offers to fix damaged homes and replace those destroyed.
“It’s not off the table,” said Lara, referring to the department’s authority to conduct what is called a “market conduct” exam into the company’s response to the fires. “We are not necessarily opposed to that.”
The department has previously conducted such investigations following other large fires.
State Farm, on Sunday, said in response that it has the largest claims force in the industry and it is “focused on our customers and helping them recover from the largest fire event we have ever experienced in the state.”
“We actively work with each of our customers to resolve their claim by understanding the facts of their loss, identifying the damages and applicable coverage,” the statement said.
The company said that as of May 5 it had received more than 12,600 claims and paid more than $3.4 billion to customers.
Separately, Tony Cignarale, deputy commissioner of consumer services and market conduct, told the fire victims that the department sent the California FAIR Plan Assn. a letter last week seeking information into how the insurer of last resort is handling smoke damage claims.
The FAIR Plan was sued last month by policyholders in both fire zones, who allege the state’s insurer is refusing to properly investigate and pay for smoke damage as required by state law. Also named as defendants are State Farm and other California licensed home insurers, who run the plan.
The threat to conduct a market conduct exam into State Farm General’s claims handling practices comes as California’s largest home insurer awaits a decision on its request for an emergency rate hike in response to its losses from the Jan. 7 fires.
The company originally filed for a 22% rate hike for its homeowner policies, but trimmed that down to 17% during a hearing last month before an administrative law judge.
The judge is expected to make a recommendation as early as this week to Lara, who can then accept, reject or revise the ruling. It also could be sent back for reconsideration.
Joy Chen, whose Altadena home was damaged by soot and ash, asked Lara to defer granting the company any rate hike until he “fully” investigates the complaints.
“We’d be happy to submit them to you,” said Chen, a leader of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network.
Lara said that he could not tie any investigation into the complaints to consideration of the rate hike, which he said was a “separate judicial process that is currently underway.” However, he asked the fire survivors to submit all their complaints to the department so it could examine them.
“What I commit to doing is collecting all the data that I’m going to receive … and sending it to our law enforcement team, because I really want to look at … all the allegations that were talked about today,” he said.
Chen, who said her home was effectively remediated by her insurer, USAA, later told The Times, “Lara’s most important job is to protect California families but he is saying the department does not consider claims management when approving rate hikes — but this is one of the few legal powers he actually has to regulate the industry.”
Last week, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced it found high levels of lead and other toxic metals at homes destroyed by the wildfires whose topsoil had been scraped by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, particularly in the Altadena area with its older housing stock.
In regards to the FAIR Plan, Cignarale said the department’s letter to the insurer asked them “for very specific information as to the very steps that are being taken to resolve these smoke claims.”
Lara told the fire victims that he had issued a bulletin to state insurers in March stating that the department expected them to “fully investigate and pay legitimate smoke claims.” He said if that was not happening, fire victims should submit their complaints to the state so the department’s investigative unit could look into them.
He also said the department planned to convene health experts to develop state standards for smoke damage remediation. “Absent any set standards, then the insurance companies will do anything to get you back in your home as quickly as possible,” he said.
Hilary McLean, a FAIR Plan spokesperson, said it has “paid thousands of claims for losses resulting from the recent L.A. fire disasters, including losses involving smoke damage daily.”
She said in evaluating claims the plan relies on “recent case law, guidance by the California Department of Insurance and our policy form.” She added the plan pays for industrial hygienists for testing “as appropriate, to assess whether smoke has caused covered damage to a property.”
